Vampire Knight - Bad Blood - 4 Parts
by NoxPerpetuo
Summary: If Yuki is to survive in Kaname's world, she must learn what it means to be a monster. Yuki and Kaname establish a new household. There is a surprise guest, a poisoning, a kidnapping, a pregnancy that ends in blood, and a monstrous tranformation. Madness takes all. WARNING: This piece is rated M. It contains extreme violence. If you are sensitive, this story may be very disturbing.
1. Bad Blood - Part 1

**Part 1 - Bad Blood**

There was a timid knock at the door.

"Lord Kuran?" came a quivering voice from outside the room. "I'm sorry to disturb you in the middle of the day, but it seems a guest has arrived."

Kaname rose from the bed.

"Tell them I won't be taking any visitors during daylight hours," he frowned sleepily. "Deliver that message, show them out, and return to your quarters, Thomas. I do not want to be disturbed again until nightfall."

"I... I'm sorry, my lord, it's just that this visitor is not for you. He says he's from The Association, and he insisted he speak with Lady Cross immediately. I thought... We thought that perhaps..."

"I'm coming," he said, and rolled out of bed.

He leaned down and tenderly stroked Yuki's hair.

"Wake up," he said, his eyes softening.

"Kaname..." she muttered, and rolled over in her sleep.

"Yuki, wake up. There is a visitor."

"Mmmm. Kaname, is it nighttime yet?

"No."

She opened her eyes and yawned.

"I don't want to. I'm still so tired. We've been up half the day. You finally let me sleep..."

"It may be nothing. I need you to wake up, though. I want you to be ready."

"You won't need me," she moaned again. "They don't care about me. Every time I have to come with you to meet someone, they barely even look at me. I'm just a decoration..."

"You are not a decoration. You're just young, so they don't know you. They don't know what to say to you: they are terrified of you."

"Great," she muttered. "If you don't mind, I'd like to stay right here and terrify whoever it is from a distance."

"A guest has apparently shown up unannounced in the middle of the day, and he specifically requested to speak to you."

"Me?" she said, half rising from the bed.

"They are claiming to be from The Association. They know we should be sleeping at this time, so this may be something urgent. I am going down to meet them first to give you time to get ready."

"Oh..." she groaned, and pushed herself into a sitting position. "What do they want?"

"I don't know yet. I need you to get up right now, though, so I can dispose of these sheets before I go."

Yuki looked down, and saw that the sheets were stained with blood. It looked like a murder had taken place in Kaname's bed. She sighed and arched her back.

"Okay. I'm up. I'm up!" she groaned, and threw her legs over the side of the bed.

Kaname pulled on his pants. He picked up the shirt he had been wearing the night before, and examined what was left of it. It was in bloody tatters. He frowned and tossed it aside.

Yuki trudged about the room, looking for her dress. While she did this, Kaname pulled the sheets from the bed and threw them in a pile with his ruined shirt. When he had everything together, he checked the room one more time. Yuki watched him use one of the pillowcases to wipe at a few stray splatters. Finally, he grabbed the entire pile of ruined, bloodstained linens and held them in his arms.

Yuki hated this part. The stench was always awful. She covered her nose and continued her search.

A tiny, purple flame jutted out from the top of the bundle. In seconds, the whole thing was consumed in flickering purple flames, and was gone. Kaname brushed a few stray ashes from his bare arms.

Satisfied, he walked to the door. He put his hand upon the knob before turning back to look at her.

"Are you descent? Thomas is outside, and I'm going to need to unlock it soon."

"Wait! Let me find my dress."

"It's beneath my side of the bed," said Kaname.

She held it up. It was mostly intact. She wouldn't even have to destroy it if she could get the bloodstains around the collar to wash out. It would have to do for now: she didn't have anything else to wear until she got back to her own quarters down at the other end of the hall. She pulled it over her head.

"There," she said. "Ready."

Kaname unlocked the door, and paused to look at her.

"I want you to stay upstairs until I come back to get you," he said to Yuki, who had taken a seat on the edge of the matress. "You've still got blood on your neck. Take a bath if you would like, but do it quickly."

The servant backed away as soon as Kaname opened the door. He was visibly shaking.

"Thomas, thank you for waking us," said Kaname gently. "You needn't worry. I am not angry with you."

"Um..." said Thomas as he bowed. "Please forgive me, my lord! This seemed important!"

"It was. Do you think you could fetch me something to wear? I am going down to greet our guest, and I seem to have misplaced my shirt."

Thomas bustled off for a moment, and then returned with a shirt for Lord Kuran.

"Will this do?"

"Perfectly. Thank you again, Thomas," said Kaname, as he paced down the hallway, pulling the shirt over his head as he went.

When he was gone, Thomas edged inside the door. Yuki had never seen this one before, not that she let this bother her much since Kaname obviously knew him by name.

"Can I get you anything, my lady?" he asked her perhaps a bit too eagerly.

"No. But thank you, Thomas," she said, and stood again. "I think I can find..."

"Anything at all? A wet cloth for the..."

She held her splayed fingertips up to cover the streak of red that was still on her neck. She hadn't had a chance to wipe it away. It was all that remained of the ragged wound that had been there only hours before.

Since the two of them had left Cross Academy eight months before, Kaname had been instructing her about this new life. One of the more important things he had impressed upon her was that no one was to handle or even see her blood, even to clean it up. It was important that even the most trusted servants, friends or guests not be allowed anywhere near her blood, because it was too dangerous to risk that it could fall into the wrong hands.

Her blood was like his, now. Humans and vampires alike would do any number of insane things to get it. They would lick the floor to consume the tiniest droplet. They would spirit off her bloodstained clothes, soak them in water, and drink the mixture. She had to be aware at all times, or someone might try to collect her powerful blood for their own puposes. Worse, if they were unprepared, there was a good chance that consuming her blood could drive them insane.

"No," she said firmly. "But you can tell me which floor the bathroom was on again. I'm still not used to the layout of this house."

"It is on the third floor, the last door at the end of the eastern wing, my lady."

"Thank you again, Thomas. Now you can go."

"No need to thank me, my lady. I am here to serve."

He bowed himself out of the room.

"Ring the bell if you need anything," he added, and then closed the door.

She hated having to deal with the servants. Most of the time, they did their work in silence. When she acually had to converse with them, it always made her extremely uncomfortable. She didn't like the way they looked at her, like they wanted to... The only way to keep them in check, Kaname had explained, was to be firm with them. She didn't like telling anyone what to do, but this is what they expected of her. If she didn't, they might think they could take advantage of her.

Every servant in this new house was a vampire who was formerly human who had lost their masters at some time in the past.

"Vampires, above all else, are predators. Never allow them to see your weaknesses, or they may pounce," he had patiently explained.

"Why can't we have servants who don't want to eat us, though?" she had asked him.

"They are our responsibility. They could fall to level E and begin attacking humans if we don't keep them under our watch. Once that happens, once a human dies under their fangs, it is The Association's duty to execute them for their crime. Here, they can feed upon one another and so avoid execution."

"I just..." she had tried to protest, "I hate having to lock my door so that I can sleep in my own home!"

"In order to participate in vampire society, every pureblood and aristocratic vampire house is expected to keep a number of orphaned vampire servants. Even with the senate gone, it is important that this standard be maintained. Now that we have established a household of our own, we have to set an example, or the fabric of our society might crumble. Would you rather we killed them for the crimes they could commit, or abandoned them to their fates amongst the humans?"

"No," she had said. "They are like Zero. If they were once humans, then they are victims, too."

"Exactly. We who were born as vampires are responsible for giving these former humans something to keep them occupied, so there is less chance they could lose control and further damage vampire/human relations. This system will never change if we don't start with our own house."

She relaxed into the warm bath water and scrubbed at the dry blood on her neck.

She still didn't think it was fair. Just like slaves, the former humans had little choice about what happened to them. They were taken away from their friends and family, conscripted to work in what could be extremely dangerous conditions, at the threat of death, and only recieved room and board in exchange for their labor. In many cases, the former humans would be used as politcal pawns by the master of the house. No one seemed to care if some of them died this way.

Kaname's house wasn't as bad as some. Vampire society saw Kaname as extremely progressive, even though Yuki sometimes worried that even his servants weren't allowed the freedoms they deserved as human beings.

For one, he insisted that the servants must be compensated with more than just donated blood or blood pills for their labor. He refused to use his servants as pawns or consume their blood, and he never had sex with them. He considered such practices a disgusting form of coersion, because the former human vampires had little choice but to obey the commands given to them by a pureblood vampire.

Despite how sorry she felt about their situation, or perhaps because of the way she felt, Yuki didn't care to converse with the servants at all. She tried her best to leave all of that up to Kaname.

The servants usually knew to stay away when the scent of blood wafted down the hallways outside the main suite, and yet, this servant called Thomas had stayed behind when Kaname had gone out. He had noticed the blood on her neck. He didn't seem to be afraid of her at all when Kaname wasn't watching. She was an infant by vampire standards, and what could a baby do?

Nothing, she was forced to admit to herself. She still couldn't seem to get any of these pureblood powers to work. When she was upset, she could crumble walls just like Kaname could, but it was never on purpose. She couldn't aim it the way he could. She couldn't just look at someone and reduce them to dust, not that she had ever really wanted to. All she had were the normal healing abilities and night-vision, but so did every vampire. Even virtually powerless level E vampires had those things.

"It's a matter of will," he had assured her. "You can't do it because you don't really want to yet. Be patient."

It didn't seem fair. This new world was so dangerous, and she couldn't even defend herself if she had to.

"Yuki?" Kaname's voice came from outside the door. "May I come in?"

"Kaname!" she said. "Oh! Oh yes. Go ahead. I was just finishing my bath."

He opened the door and stepped inside. His eyes slid approvingly over the blurry silhouette of her submerged body.

"You better come downstairs. I can dispose of your dress if you would like. You can't leave it there like that."

"You don't have to... I was going to..."

It bothered her when he did things like this for her, like she was still a child.

"I already had one of the servants gather some clean clothing for you. I thought you would forget to ask before you came all this way."

"Oh! I did forget!" she said, sitting up out of the bath.

He flashed a half-smile at her.

"I think it would be best if you hurried."

"So... who's here to see me?"

All the guests they'd had so far had really only come there to see Kaname, even if they had asked to see the both of them out of politeness. Yuki was new to vampire society. They thought of her as wild-card, and barely acknowledged her presence.

She was the second of two Kuran heirs to appear out of thin air in just a few years. The first one, Kaname Kuran, had recently massacred almost every member of the vampire senate. There was a lot of bad blood about that incident, she knew, but their fear of Kaname's powers kept most of them at bay for the time being. What, she was sure they wondered, was this latest Kuran heir planning to do?

"He claims he is a representative from the Hunters' Association. He insisted he speak with you immediately."

"Just me? Why me? Why would anyone from The Association want to talk to me? Unless..."

"You needn't worry. I've asked Sairen to keep an eye on things. As soon as I finish here," he said as he held her bloodstained dress up to the light, "I will join you. It will not take me long."

"Okay, Kaname," she said, a hint of doubt creeping into her voice. "I just... I'm not sure I really know what I'm doing with things like this yet. I hope I don't mess this up."

"You are Lady Yuki Cross. Don't forget. Whatever he wants, don't let him see it if he upsets you. Remember that I will be down soon, breathe deeply, and do your best to keep him pleasantly distracted until I arrive. I wouldn't allow him to speak with you alone even for a moment if I thought he was a true danger to your life."

"Well..." she said, thinking. "I guess I better get dressed, then."

"Your clothes are in the bag beside the door."

She put her hands on the edge of the bath, bracing to stand up out of the water, then hesitated. Kaname was staring at her.

"Um..." she said, not sure how to ask him to turn around without offending him.

"I can turn around, if it bothers you," he said, an amused smile flickered past his lips.

"Could you? I mean..."

Kaname turned his back.

"Don't worry. I don't expect you to be comfortable around me so soon. It takes time."

He gathered up her dress and put a hand on the doorknob.

"And Yuki?" he said.

"Yes, Kaname?"

"Don't agree to do anything he asks until I get there."

"Okay, Kaname. I'll... I'll try."

Kaname closed the door.

Yuki stood and climbed out of the bath. She wasn't sure she would ever get used to these European-style bathtubs where you submerge your entire body in the water. The first time she had to use one, she'd filled the tub halfway and dipped a towel in the water like she was used to doing when there wasn't a shower. But Kaname had insisted she climb in and soak.

"Unless you do it this way," he had patiently explained after he discovered her sitting beside the tub, wrapped in a towel, "there is a chance you might leave too much residue. You need to soak, then drain and rinse the tub so any blood will be too diluted to be of any use. If there is time, pour bleach down the drain, just to be sure."

She wrapped herself in a towel and paced forward to see what was in the bag Kaname had brought.

There were so many rules! It was hard to remember them all. Maybe, she thought, if she could do it, he would stop treating her like a child.

She opened the bag and drew forth a dress so simple and yet elegant, it made her gasp. He expected her to wear this? It looked like something a princess might wear when she didn't want to bother with all the uncomfortable baubles on her usual party gown. To Yuki, who was accustomed to wearing a starchy, unstylish school uniform most of the time, this outfit seemed like overkill for any occasion.

Could she possibly pull something like this off? She tried to imagine what she'd look like by holding it in front of herself as she stood before the mirror.

It was a beautiful, creamy white color, and it hung down almost to her ankles. The top was made to wrap gracefully around her shoulders and fasten behind her neck. It made her look like a Roman noble-woman.

"Only, with my silly looking head poking out of the top of it," she muttered to herself disapprovingly.

There was nothing for it, though, so she pulled it over her naked body and fastened the gracefully pleated fabric at the back of her neck. Thankfully, she looked less ridiculous than she thought once she was actually wearing it.

Yuki quickly towel dried her hair and ran a brush through it for good measure. She wanted to bind it up somehow, but there wasn't anything in the room that could possibly hold so much hair while still looking nice. She doubted she would give the impression Kaname wanted with her hair wrapped up in a towel.

When she was sure she looked enough like a pureblood princess as anyone could expect under such short notice, she made her way back down the hall and to the stairs.

"Yukiiii!" cried the visitor when she reached the second-floor landing.

It couldn't be...

Footsteps thundered around her as the guest ran to meet her.

"My beloved daughter!" he cried as he came into sight.

"Headmaster Cross!" she exclaimed, and threw her arms around him.

"How many times do I have to tell you to call me 'father'?" he said, holding her out at arm's length, smiling at her.

"Oh! I'm so happy it's you!" she said, laughing as the tension that had gripped her heart dissipated. "Kaname had me all worked up, but then, well... Why don't we go downstairs?"

She disengaged from the hug and pointed to the open doorway below.

"There's no need for us to have our visit here," she said. "This old place has lots of cushy couches in the first floor sitting room."

"Yes. Yes! I have so much to tell you, my darling," he fluttered after her. "So much has happened in the six months since you left the academy. And I missed you so!" he added as she led him into nearby room.

True to form, Sairen followed at an unobtrusive distance, her eyes focused squarely upon the headmaster's back at all times.

It didn't matter to her that this was supposed to be Headmaster Cross, Yuki's adopted father and probably the safest person in the world to have by her side besides Kaname himself.

Sairen, unlike all the other servants at the new Kuran house, was the only one who had ever received the gift of Kaname Kuran's blood. It had been in payment for saving Kaname's life at a time long since past. Even as his blood laid glistening on the floor within her grasp, she had resisted the urge to kneel down to drink it, and instead chose to save her friend and master first. For this, for her loyalty, and for her rock-solid fortitude, she had been granted the power of the purest blood in existence. She hadn't needed to stoop so low as lapping a mouthful of blood from some dirty floor. Her master filled a vial and presented it to her himself in thanks for what she had done.

Because of this gift, she was almost as powerfully dangerous as Kaname himself, and yet unrelentingly loyal. If Kaname asked her to keep watch over Yuki and the guest, this is exactly what she would do. No matter how Yuki seemed to trust this man, Yuki was not her master.

"I've got a present for you!" exclaimed the headmaster as soon as they were seated.

"Would you like something to drink, first... father?" asked Yuki.

"Father! I just love it when you call me that!" he cried, clapping his hands together happily.

"Some green tea, perhaps? A glass of wine?"

"Oh? Drinking wine now, are we? Just look at you, growing into a young woman right before my eyes," he said, an octave dropping from his voice. "I'm glad to see you're holding up so well. Fitting in? No problems?"

"I'm fine, father. I promise. I'm happy. Kaname is helping me get adjusted."

"I'm glad to hear that," said the headmaster, still using his serious voice.

"Do you want a drink, then?"

"No, thank you. But..." he returned to his usual, jovial tone, "I brought you a gift, see?!"

He pulled a small box from the pocket of his coat.

"Are you going to open it?"

Yuki took the box from him and examined it.

"Thank you, father," she said. "I never knew you were so good at wrapping presents. This one is... wow... and I haven't even opened it yet."

The presents she remembered from her childhood, the ones she had watched the headmaster wrap himself, none of them had looked half as good as this one did. Usually, they had come out looking like someone had taped wadded paper to the outside of the box, then decided to wind the tape round and round so that none of it would fall off. Not that this had ever bothered her. Presents were still presents, no matter how the wrapping paper looked.

"If you must know, it wasnt me who wrapped it, but Sairen."

"What? Why?"

"Well," he laughed, "It seems Sairen has been charged with your safety. When she realized I intended to give you a gift, she insisted on examining the contents. She made me unwrap it to show her what was inside."

Another thing she was going to have to get used to as a princess; bodyguards.

"Oh, father, I'm so sorry!"

"No, no, no. I'm glad you have such a dedicated helper, here. She even wrapped it back up for me when she was done. She did a rather nice job, don't you think?"

Yuki turned to Sairen, who was standing in the open doorway, her hands clasped rigidly in front of her.

"Thank you, Sairen," she said. "I didn't know you knew how to wrap a gift so well."

"I can do anything that is required of me in the service of my master," came the woman's curt response.

Yuki turned back to the headmaster.

"That's Sairen-speak for, 'You're welcome,' in case you were wondering," she said, an embossed smile on her lips.

"So! Are you going to open it?"

"Oh... yes! Let's see what's inside, then."

Yuki opened her present.

"This looks just like the bracelet you gave me when I..."

"It is!" he exclaimed. "Only, I had some alterations made so that you, a vampire, could still use it like you did before."

"Neat."

"It'll still paralyze a vampire, only, I had one of the boys over at the Association weaponsmith shop add a little of this, take away a little of that, so that this particular bracelet will not affect you the same way."

"Wow. I mean... wow!"

"I thought you might appreciate having a little protection from... well... whatever you might need protection from."

"Thank you, father!" she said, fiddling the clasp so she could put it on. "This is a great gift! You have no idea how much I appreciate this!"

"I thought I told you not to do anything our guest asks of you until I arrive," said Kaname stiffly as he appeared in the doorway, making Yuki jump.

"Kaname! Why didn't you tell me it was Headmaster Cross?"

Kaname sighed.

"Because is wasn't."

"What?" she cried, confused. "He's sitting right here!"

She indicated the spot where the headmaster had been, only to discover that another person, one she'd never seen before, had taken his place. Not only that, but Sairen was now behind the stranger, a thin stiletto blade held against the side of his neck.

"What!" Yuki gaped.

"Move, and I get to add your skull to my collection," Sairen whispered into the man's ear.

"Please drop that bracelet," said Kaname. "If he thought he needed to trick you to get you to put it on, it can't be good for you."

She dropped the bracelet. It clattered across the floor and came to rest beneath a nearby couch.

"What... Wait! Who is this? Where is the headmaster?!"

"He was never here."

"How did you ..." said the man, before Sairen's blade gouged him. He pressed his lips together, and his eyes rolled around crazily, from Sairen and back to Kaname. It was clear he wasn't sure which one to fear most at the moment.

"Do not speak until the master wishes it!" she spat into his ear.

"Who are you?" said Kaname, his eyes burning the deepest crimson in his anger.

"Ask your doggie to back off, and I might tell you," he spat.

"Sairen. I'm sorry. Not right now. Perhaps in another moment, if you could," said Kaname.

"Yes, master," she responded, and immediately took a single step back.

She didn't, however, put away her blade.

The man dusted himself off, and stood straight.

"How will I ever get that doggie smell out of my clothes now?" he sneered.

"Now master?"

"Not yet."

"Tell me who you are. Why did you try to put this bracelet on my wife-to-be? Tell me, or I will end you without hesitation."

"I'm everyone and no one," said the man, giggling madly, before his face fell into a grimmace. "Monster!"

Kaname took a step closer to him, sniffing. "I've never smelled anything quite so putrid as you. Your smell gave you away from the very moment you appeared on my doorstep."

Come to think of it, Yuki realized, Headmaster Cross did have a very peculiar smell. She'd only noticed it once she became a vampire, though. It was like the sweet smell of fresh fish, but mixed with the scent of roses. No one else smelled that way. This man smelled like... rotted flesh, yet damp and green, like he'd spent a lot of time hanging out on a polluted river bottom. It was kind of fishy, too, but it wasn't right at all. It really was awful. How could she not have noticed?

"You smell like you haven't bathed in centuries, and yet, you have the gall to complain about Sairen?"

Kaname took another step towards him.

"Master! Be careful!" cried Sairen. "Don't do it! He is tainted! I can smell the dead flesh!"

"Yes, but I have to know. If he won't tell me, then..."

"Ha! Ha-ha ha-ha!" cried the man wildly. "But what if your little doggie is right? What if my blood is full of madness and rot?! Do you want to take the risk?"

Kaname stopped to consider this, and as he hesitated, the man's face pulled itself into a triumphant sneer.

"If my disguise was so bad, then why you let your precious wifey-poo come down to meet me all alone?"

Kaname growled.

Yuki had never heard him make such a gutteral sound before, even in the throes of his greatest passion, even when the blood-lust had nearly overtaken his reason. Carefully, she took a step back, her heart pounding in her throat. She didn't know what he would do now. She wasn't sure she wanted to be standing too close when he did it, either. It might be messy.

The man screamed, although Kaname hadn't actually touched him. He doubled over, convulsing with pain and fell back onto the couch.

"Stop! Please stop!" he howled, clawing at his chest.

When Kaname finally released him, he laid for several seconds, gasping and twitching. Bloody tatters dangled across his torso, all that was left of his clothes after he had torn into his own skin, struggling with whatever pain Kaname had inflicted. The wounds were already closing, so, Yuki reasoned, that meant he was a vampire.

Yuki looked away. She couldn't bare to watch.

"Who. Are. You." Kaname forced each word out between clenched teeth. "Tell me, or you die."

"Go ahead, then, bright boy! Kill the messenger! Kill it! Kill it!" the man screamed.

"Maybe..." Yuki interjected, breaking her fearful silence for the first time, "Maybe we should hear this message? I mean... he can't tell us anything while he's screaming."

Sairen and Kaname both glanced at her, surprise mirrored on both faces.

"Maybe you shouldn't be watching this, my lady," said Sairen, a pained expression suddenly blossoming forth. "My lord! I mean no disrespect to the lady! I am only concerned for her safety!"

Kaname blinked, and his eyes were black once more.

"Don't get yourself worked up, Sairen. I know what you meant. But I think... I think the Lady Yuki may be right in this case. We can't let our instincts control us. If we don't like what he has to say, then he is yours to do with as you please."

"Thank you, my lord," she said, bowing slightly before returning to her ready stance.

"So, creature, let's start again, shall we?"

"No. My message is not for you, little king. I did not lie about my desire to speak to the lady and the lady only."

"Too bad. You must tell all three of us, or your severed head joins Sairen's collection. That is, after I have tortured you to a state of madness."

"Impossible!"

"Why?"

"The message. It is in the bracelet. Only one can wear it at a time! I won't be telling you anything! I am not allowed to tell you anything, no matter how long you torture me. Try it, and see what happens!"

"He's mad," Yuki suddenly blurted. "Since he couldnt get to me, he just wants you to put it on yourself, Kaname!"

"There is still one other way, of course," said Kaname, his eyes glowing vaguely red again. "If he won't tell us, then I will enter his mind. Through the blood."

"Master!"

"Don't worry, Sairen. I won't linger there for long. He probably tastes worse than he smells."

"No!" screamed the man, but Sairen was already over the back of the couch, pinning him against the cushions with all her force.

Yuki could hear his bones creaking as Sairen drove her knees into the meat of his thighs to keep him from struggling.

"Now, master," she said, looking up at Kaname with two red, glimmering eyes.

Yuki turned away once more, but she could still smell the blood in the air as Kaname drove his fangs into the man's flesh. She could still hear the awful, gloopy sound of his blood as Kaname drank and drank.


	2. Killing the Messenger - Part 2

Part 2 - Killing The Messenger

Yuki leaned back in her chair, away from Kaname, away from the brownish blood smeared down his chin, away from the wild look in his eyes.

"So he's..." she trailed off, too horrified to form the words.

Dead. The messenger was dead. Kaname and Sairen had just killed him. She didn't even want to think it.

"Not yet. Sairen was angry over the way he kept taunting her. His body was wrecked when I had finished with him, but he wasn't completely gone. I kept my promise, though. She will give him mercy."

Yuki hadn't witnessed the last part. She had fled the room, gagging on the overwhelming, rank stench of the man's blood.

"You mean, she's going to kill him now."

"Yes."

"Why?!" she exclaimed, making Kaname rise up to stare at her.

"I think we've had this conversation before. How many times do I have to explain it?"

"How could you stand to swallow that..." she shook with indignation, "that horrible stuff? Why didn't we just throw him out? Was all of this really necessary?!"

"He would have been back. I know that now."

"I' m not sure I want to know..."

"You need to know. What little I could discern through the chaos of this man's mind, I think it would concern you. He was mad, as you guessed," said Kaname as he wiped the blood away from his face. "But he wasn't a level E, either. He still had all his faculties, which is likely how he managed to put on such a convincing show as Headmaster Cross."

"Come to think of it, how did he do that? Is that one of the many vampire tricks I can't do?"

"No. That was a new one. I've never known a vampire who could transform so completely into another person's likeness. Usually, vampire transformation tends toward something... monsterous," he paused, remembering. "More importantly, we need to know how he got so many details about your adopted father. If it wasn't for the stench he carried along with him, I might not have realized he was an imposter so easily."

"Who was..." Yuki blinked, then gritted her teeth.

She was already talking about this man as if he were dead. She didn't like the way she had so easily accepted it. She could already feel the tension in the room disappating. It wasn't natural.

"Stop it!" she slammed her fist against the coffee table between them, causing hairline cracks to radiate form the wood beneath her fingers. "Stop it! I don't want to be soothed! I want to be angry! Let me be angry!"

The hairline cracks opened up, and became narrow canyons. The table began to groan and flex, but she didn't remove her hand.

"You seem..."

"Horrified? Upset?! Confused?!" she shouted. "Those words don't even begin to cover it! Tell me why, Kaname! Why did you do that to him?! Why couldn't we have handled this some other way?!"

"Why? As always, I did what I had to do to ensure your safety. Are you saying you don't want my protection any longer, Yuki? Do you think you are strong enough to survive without me?"

"I..." she stuttered. "No," she was forced to admit. "He would have... He did fool me. I didn't even realize that he smelled... wrong. I should have noticed."

"He manipulated you. He guessed that you would be momentarily stunned to see your adopted father, and so, you would forget to keep your guard up."

"I'm lucky he didn't kill me," she muttered, and took her hand away from the ruined table.

"Luck had nothing to do with it. Sairen and I were just outside the door the entire time, waiting for the right moment."

"So, then," she said, her forehead wrinkling as she thought. "You used me as bait!"

"I could have merely killed him without giving him a chance to speak. It was his own words and thoughts that sealed his fate," he said, staring at the cracked coffee table with mild interest.

"See? Look at this. You said you couldn't do it, but you just caused a piece of solid oak to crumble. You practically dissolved it."

"Don't change the subject!"

He shook his head, like he was trying to clear it of cobwebs, then turned his razor-sharp gaze toward her again.

"Are you okay, Kaname?"

"I will be. There was some sort of toxin in his blood. Sairen was right about that part. Perhaps it was there to deter me from doing what I did. Whoever gave it to him must have underestimated my desire to protect you at any cost."

"Or they knew you would act to protect me despite the cost, and they put something in his blood hoping you would drink it."

"I should have..."

He shook his head again.

"Yuki," he said, his eyes swimming around the room as if he couldn't get a fix on her location, "Call Sairen..."

Kaname was unconscious. Sairen had carried him up to his chambers like he was a broken doll, and laid him in his bed.

She pulled his shirt open and pressed her ear against his bare chest.

"His heart still beats, but very faintly," she said as she stood erect.

"What happened to him?" Yuki said, hovering over his inert form.

"I do not know."

"Will he..."

"No. He will live."

"Are you sure?"

"No, but I have faith he would not choose to leave us this way. He is very strong."

"Should we...?"

"You must stay here. You will guard him with your life. I must go to find help, but I will return shortly. Can you manage by yourself?"

"What should I do if he starts to get worse?"

"Feed him some of your blood. In fact, you may want to begin now. It may be the only medicine he requires," she said, and then she was gone.

Yuki wanted to slap herself. She kept forgetting that her blood was the same as Kaname's, now. Maybe...

She rummaged in the room for something sharp with which to pierce her skin, but found nothing. Kaname didn't stir.

Finally, she found a sewing pin in the back of a drawer, and she plunged it into her fingertip. A drop of blood came to the surface, after which the wound sealed up again. Quickly, she paced over to where he was laid out, and pushed her bloody finger past his lips.

Normally, that would have been all it took to send him into a frenzy, even from a dead sleep, but he didn't seem to react. He didn't even try to swallow.

She gouged deeper this time, and forced the wound to stay open a little longer by massaging the blood toward her fingertips. She allowed the blood to drip past his partly open lips, down into the back of his throat.

Nothing.

Did she need to open an artery for him? Was he really so sick, he could die?

Yuki sighed, and opened her mouth to bite down on her skinny wrist. This time, she was careful to avoid biting all the way to the bone with her fangs. She'd done it before, and despite her body's amazing ability to heal itself, the pain of being injured was still the same.

She pressed her wrist to her lips, and pulled out a mouthful before the wound managed to heal itself. She leaned down over him., and pushed her mouth against his own. She forced the blood inside, and then held it there to prevent it from overflowing.

Good thing vampires don't need to breathe, she thought, or I might choke him to death like this. He wasn't swallowing any of it, though. It just sat there in his open mouth, slowly leaking down his chin.

Some of it must have gone in, she reasoned, but maybe he still needed more. It couldn't hurt to try.

She opened her mouth to bite herself again. Kaname groaned and began to sputter, but he still did not open his eyes.

It was working!

"Stop that," said a voice behind her, making her jump.

She turned, and saw a man standing in the doorway.

"Stop that, or you'll wake him too soon," he said.

"Who are you?!" she exclaimed, backing away from him.

"Come with me," was his only response, and then he darted forward and grabbed her hand.

"No. No! Kaname!" she screamed, but the man towed her out of the room.

"Wait! Where are we going? Hey! Stop! Kaname needs me right now!"

The man didn't even look back at her.

"Servants! Thomas! Help!"

"They won't be saving you today, miss."

Yuki managed to pull free for a moment, and tried to dart away from him. He was too fast for her, though, and he had her by the waist before she had gone two steps.

"Scream all you like. The servants are dead," he hissed in her ear.

"Dead?"

"If you don't care to join them, you will come along quietly now. The master awaits your arrival."

"No! Let me go! Where are you taking me?! Kaname! Wake up! Help! Sairen!"

But no one was there to answer her, and no one came to save her as the man drug her out into the blinding daylight, and pushed her roughly into a waiting car.

The blood Yuki had given Kaname was working to heal him, but not fast enough. He moaned again as his coma transitioned to a restless sleep, but still, he did not wake.


	3. The Perpetual Nightmare - Part 3

**Part 3 - The Perpetual Nightmare**

Yuki gasped as she wrestled back to consciousness. What a terrifying dream she'd just had. She felt for Kaname's warmth beside her, but her fingers could only find more of this rough, sandy stuff that seemed to have invaded everything as she slept.

Stone. It was some kind of stone. It was cold, and damp, and definitely not her bed. She sat up, and the heavy sound of clanking chain links echoed all around her. Her arms felt heavy. When she looked down to examine them, she was horrified to see that her wrists were bound in iron manacles. Her ankles were bound the same way.

The beautiful white dress was smudged all over from where she had rolled around on the grimey floor. Her shoes were missing, like someone had taken them off of her as she slept.

"Hello?!" she cried. "Hello?"

For the time being, there was no answer. Even her heightened senses could not detect any life nearby, aside from a few insects as they skittered behind the walls.

"Is anyone there? I'm trapped in here. Kaname?"

She struggled to stand. The chains that bound her were long enough, she had to drape them over an arm or risk getting tangled.

The room she was in was dim, but her night vision allowed her to see that it was long and narrow. There was a heavy, riveted metal door at the other end.

She dropped the chains on the floor, and began to drag them out to their full length. How far could she get?

She had gone only a quarter of the room's length before the chains went taut and pulled her back. She pulled hard against them, but could not break them free from the back wall.

She screamed incoherently for a while. She begged for someone to come let her out. She wept in a pile on the dusty stone floor. None of these things brought forth even the slightest response from anywhere.

Aside from the sound of the chains rubbing as she shifted her body, there was complete silence all around. After some time, she sat down at the outer limit of her bonds, too exhausted to even talk to herself anymore. With nothing left to do, she eventually laid back down on the cold, damp stones and slept.

...

"My lord, please don't try to get up before the poison is out of your system. You are still very weak," said Sairen as she stood by Lord Kaname's bedside.

"Where is Yuki? I thought she would be here. I can still taste her on my lips. Where is she?"

"She seems to have disappeared."

"Where is she?!" he demanded.

"I do not know. We have been the victims of some sort of attack."

"I... I am sorry I shouted at you, Sairen. But... how did this happen?"

"Yuki must have attempted to revive you by feeding you her blood. There was blood on your lips. I noticed a handprint and a few spatters in the hallway, as well. Whoever killed the servants must have drug her down that way before she was finished feeding you. She is no longer in the house, my lord. I fear... I fear that this poison was just a distraction to keep the both of us occupied, so someone could take your fiancé away."

"Yuki was right, then."

"My lord?"

"Right before I lost consciousness, she pointed out that someone might have used the messenger to threaten her, so I would drink his tainted blood."

Sairen gasped, then bowed her head in shame.

"Master! I have failed you! I didn't know the danger of leaving her alone. I left to find help for your... condition, thinking she would be safe with you and the servants nearby. She cannot travel the way I can. In order to get help quickly, I had to leave her. If I had known..."

"I didn't have the chance to tell you before I lost consciousness, Sairen. None of this is your fault."

"But still, I failed you. I will never forgive myself if something happens to her!"

"Then you have to help me find her immediately, before the trail runs cold."

"Yes. It will be the sole purpose of my existence until the minute she is found. I will not rest. I will not stop."

"I know you wont, Sairen. There is a reason I chose you out of the many servants I have had through the centuries to be more than a mere game piece on the board."

"Thank you for your faith in me, Master! I do not deserve it!"

"Stop that. You do deserve my faith, or I would never have given it to you."

"Yes. Master," she said, kneeling at his bedside.

He sighed, and put a shaking hand upon her head.

...

Yuki woke again. There were tears on her face, but she didn't remember crying. She was in the same room as before.

"Oh. Stop crying," said a snide voice, making Yuki bolt upright.

"Who... Who's there?!" she demanded.

The voice had come from behind her.

She whipped around, her manacles clanking loudly.

"Who ever you are, Kaname is going to kill you when he finds me!" she screamed.

"If he finds you. We are very well hidden for the time being."

"It doesn't matter. He'll find you, and when he does, he will reduce you to ashes," she growled. "Better let me go now and maybe I will convince him to be merciful."

"Ten months," said the silhouette. "I'll let you go in ten months. If... you are very nice to me in the meanwhile."

"No. Let me go now!"

"You know what? I liked you so much better when you were crying in your sleep."

"You're going to die, you sick freak. Kaname won't rest until he finds me."

"I'm sure he won't. Maybe, the strain will kill him, but I unfortunately doubt it."

"What do you want? You want to kill us? Is that what you want?"

"You know, this would have been so much easier if you hadn't killed your own uncle. Why did you have to go and do something like that? Like so many beautiful young women before you, you gave up your innocence to him. Since you insisted on murdering that fool, you made me wait for new blood, and I am not a patient person."

"Who are you?"

"I'm a man in need of a monster," he giggled obscenely.

"That doesn't really narrow it down."

"Like I said," he chuckled, "Be a nice girl. Give me what I want, and I might even let you continue your sad little life with the soon-to-be former king."

"What do you want?"

"Your baby, of course."

"Uh... Maybe you're confused. I don't have a baby. I've never had one."

"But you will! In a little less than ten months!"

"Go to hell. I'm not even..." she stopped, and put her hands to her belly. How did she even know if she was pregnant? What did a vampire pregnancy even look like? Could it be?

"So you didn't even know yet? Shame on Kaname for not telling you! Well... Now you do! Congratulations!" He laughed cruelly. "No. I'm joking. You aren't pregnant... yet."

"Kaname is going to tear you apart!"

"We will see!" the silhouette stepped forward so that Yuki could see him sneering. "While we wait for the red knight to come and fetch his deflowered princess from the clutches of the terrible dragon, I have many, many uses for you."

"Get away from me!" she spat, and backed to the end of her tether.

"Oh. Please do struggle. I love it when they struggle. And scream. Can you scream for me some more? We can play for ten whole months this way, until the baby's born. Then I won't really need you anymore! Maybe, if you play really well, I'll keep you as a pet."

"Get back!"

...

"I took the liberty of running a few tests on your blood while you slept."

"And?"

"The substance used to poison you was made from the same metal The Association uses to make Hunter weapons. Somehow, it seems, this vampire was able to injest it without being destroyed by it. When you drank his blood, though, the cursed metal particles acted as a sedative, and you were temporarily knocked unconscious. It would have killed a lesser vampire."

"We need to find Yuki, Sairen."

"Not until you are fully recovered. You know I cannot fight this battle alone."

"It has been less than a few hours, but who knows what terrible things have already befallen her since she was dragged off into the darkness? One moment without her is one moment too many!"

He struggled to pull himself out of bed. Sairen rushed to support him.

"Not all vampires are as gentle as I. They could..." he shuddered. "I would go mad without her. I can't lose anyone else who is dear to me."

"I know, Master. I agree we need to find her before... before whatever they do to her alters her beyond recognition. But where do we start?"

"We start with the blood memories I took from the messenger."

...

Yuki sat like a stone. She glared at the plastic cup the man had set before her, her eyes hollow and filled with dust. No tears fell. She could not cry. She could not blink. Despite the exhaustion she felt, she refused to rest. Her jaw was set.

The cup was full of fresh blood, but she had no desire to touch it. She didn't want to ever move again. She wanted to dry up like a dead flower and dissolve into a pile of dust. She felt like she could wait forever.

Kaname hadn't come to save her in time, and now it was too late.

...

"It's been a month, Sairen!" he growled, "And we haven't seen a single sign of her. A month! Where is she?!"

His eyes glowed red with rage.

"Master. Calm yourself. We will find her soon enough. When we do, you will have satisfaction!"

"Yes. I will. This offense will not be overlooked. When we discover who has taken her, we will both have satisfaction."

He bared his teeth, and to Sairen's dismay, she could see that quite a few of them were sharper than before. Kaname was beginning to transition. If Yuki wasn't found soon, she didn't know what he would do before The Association had to put him down. Last time, he had... But she didn't want to think about that right now.

Right now, she needed to help her master find his wife-to-be before he lost his mind to the madness again. A 25,000 year old vampire on a rampage could do unimaginable damage.

The poison he had injested hadn't helped, either. Even though most of it was gone, according to the blood tests she now ran on him each day, a small amount of residual poison still remained. Thus far, it refused to leave his system, and worse, it actually seemed to be speeding along his monsterous transformation.

What they really needed was some of Yuki's blood. That would set him right, she knew. But without Yuki, he wouldn't be able to resist his basest instincts for much longer. He might have another three months.

Everyone who had known and loved Yuki was out searching for some sign that she still lived. News came to the house daily, but none of it ever turned out to have anything to do with Yuki's disappearance.

The blood memories had yielded very little, as well. The vampire who visited them was suffering the same mysterious illness that now effected Kaname. He had been a former human, though, so the poison had only served to drive him toward madness. His entire mind was a jumble of delusions and obcessions. Kaname had only briefly glanced through the man's skewed memories, and had come back with almost no useful information.

Sairen wasn't about to give up, though. She and Kaname investigated every lead.

...

Kaname wasn't coming to save her. He wouldn't leave her this way if he knew where she was. There was something wrong with him. It was the only reason he hadn't already come.

Yuki stared at the tiny cup of blood the man had left for her, and picked restlessly at the manacles around her wrists. The blood he gave her was just enough to keep her from starvation. He kept her weak on purpose, she knew, so she couldn't break free.

She had to escape.

But how?

...

Kaname stalked the halls of the old house, growling wordlessly. Sairen followed him at a safe distance, a worried expression on her face.

Kaname hadn't spoken a word in four days, and his eyes glittered red without ceasing, day and night. He wouldn't allow himself to be touched anymore, even to have help changing his clothes. The odor of madness hung around his body like a rank cloud, and he could no longer keep the blood tablets down.

Their investigations into Yuki's disappearance had to be handed off. It was all Sairen could do to care for him.

Sairen knew it wouldn't be long before he would have to be forcibly restrained.

...

Yuki put her hands over her distended belly and grimmaced. She was now six months pregnant.

The man had come to see her again, and when he was finished with her, he had set the cup of fresh blood out for as he always did.

He liked to brag about how he took care of his baby. She had learned to keep quiet when he talked. It didn't do any good. It just made him angry, and when he was angry, he did things to hurt her.

She didn't resist drinking anymore, either. She needed the strength. More importantly, she needed the plastic cup.

She poured the blood down her throat without tasting it.

She dug her fingers into the meat of her upper arm, and carefully extracted a long, pointed rod she had hidden beneath her flesh. She licked it clean.

She was stronger than she had been before she came to this place. She finally understood what Kaname had meant about really meaning it when it came to using her powers.

She pulled the plastic cup apart until it could be laid flat, then wrapped the flattened cup around the rod, extending the point by a few centimeters. She exhaled, and concentrated on the next step of the process. Slowly, the heat beneath her palms increased until she could feel the flesh sizzling, until the next layer of plastic had thoroughly bonded to all the previous layers she'd already added.

Yuki smiled. Her weapon would soon be ready.

Quickly, she forced it through her skin, just like she did every day after the man came to see her. She worked it back into its customary spot, nestled up against the bone. It was virtually indetectible, now. She was so accustomed to the pain, her expression barely changed at all.

Yuki wondered if vampires could get scars. All the times she'd torn open her own arm in the exact same place. All the times she'd healed. She wondered if someday, the wound would stop healing as if it had never been there.

Vampires did get scars, she suddenly realized, only never the simple kind you could see on the surface. She could feel it, though, deep inside her own heart.

Once, she had been the girl who had argued with her fiancé about allowing his servant, Sairen, to kill a man. Her heart had overflowed with pity for this man who had been driven to do such a desperate thing that Kaname would allow this. Now, there was something missing inside her.

What was missing was this part of her that had once overflowed. Now, there was a hole in that same place. It was a pitiless, infinite, gaping hole somewhere inside her, a wound so deep and hungry, it would never fully heal no matter how much love or kindness anyone poured in.

It was the place where her strength was. It was the place she fled inside herself when the man came to visit her.

She could feel it, the desire to steal the life of another being, just as Kaname had once described to her abject horror. At the time, she had imagined many things, but none of them had been entirely correct. Girlish fantasies. Maidens being ravaged by the sea. Dramatic scenes like what never happened in reality. Because reality was far more gruesome than any silly frippery she could have dreamed up in those days.

If Kaname wasn't coming for her, if her savior had failed to protect her, if he still laid in a coma somewhere dreaming desperately of her blood, then there was only one who could free her from this nightmare. It was herself.

Maybe, she thought, he was dead. She would deal with that when the time came.

...

"The door won't hold him much longer! We may need to evacuate!" shouted Sairen over the gutteral screams that rocked the entire building.

"Evacuate?!" screamed the hunter who stood beside her, trying to help her brace the door.

"You haven't seen him in action. This could be the death of thousands if you don't get away from this place now!. His mind is gone!" she shouted. "It will be an apocalypse!"

Eight months and seventeen days, she calculated silently. That was how long it had taken the Master she loved to complete his transition. She wondered if he would survive this time, or if she would live long enough to ever see the Kaname she loved again. Somehow, she felt this was her fault. She had failed him twice. Once, she had allowed herself to be manipulated. She had left his young fiancé by herself to find help for him, and the girl had been taken away. Once, she had failed to find this person the master had loved most on the world, despite her vow to do otherwise. His monstrous state was her fault. Whatever happened when he finally escaped her control would also be her fault.

Suddenly, the screams behind the door ceased. An echoing silence rose up around them, roaring in their ears.

"What happened?" said the Hunter, too loud.

"I do not know," she frowned, forcing the muscles in her arms to come unlocked as she leaned away from the door.

"Is he dead?"

"No. I can hear him pacing around in there, still."

"Do you think he's trying to trick us into opening the door again?"

"No. He is long past the point where he could scheme to deceive us."

"Then he's got to be dead."

"He's not dead, you idiot!" she shouted, before regaining her composure. "Something else has happened," she breathed. "Something has changed."

...

"Tomorrow's the big day!" tittered the man crazily. "Tomorrow's the day we come to take your baby!"

Yuki stared at him, her eyes boring into his flesh, but she said nothing.

"Aren't you excited! You finally get to die! It'll be a wonderful day!" he spun around in front of her, almost dancing. "And look at you! You look like a big, fat, broken doll. I just love what you've done with your hair, too! Oh, ho-ho! Tomorrow will be a day to remember!"

"You won't," she muttered.

"Now what did I say about talking back, huh? Or do you want to play another game?"

"No. This game is done. The red knight is coming soon," Yuki said, as she crouched on the floor where he had tossed her when he finished.

"Oh! Look at her, talking about how the red knight will save her after all this time. I thought I already explained this a THOUSAND TIMES!" he screamed suddenly in her face. "The red knight is dead!" he sang again, and started spinning around on his toes.

When his back was to her, she plunged her fingers into the flesh of her arm and drew forth the weapon she had made. The wound sealed perfectly, like always.

He came around again, but stopped short when he saw what she had in her hands.

"Now where did you get... that?"

Yuki didn't answer him, though. She stood up, the weapon clutched in her hand. She waited.

"Is that a gift you made for me?" he taunted. "Is it? Is it?"

"Yes," said Yuki, her voice flat "Come over here and get it."

"Hahahaha!" he laughed. "No. I don't think so. I hope you don't mind. I've never been one for pain," he giggled.

"That's okay. I have another present for you."

Her eyes glowed red in the darkness. Now.

She turned the rod's pointed end away from him and instead aimed it at herself. Before he could react to stop her, she drove it into her own abdomen. She choked and fell over as the blood began to drain from both ends of the rod. It was hollow, almost like a straw. She had built it that way on purpose. She wanted to keep the wounds open until she could burrow in deeper. If she healed up now, he would probably just kill her.

...

 _For your inconvenience, this section has been removed due to extreme violence._

 _If you really must know the whole, gruesome story, then send me a private message to get a copy of the original file._

...

She heard the man gasp as he realized what she was doing.

"No!"

But it was too late. Yuki tore her chains free from the wall, and she was upon him before he could take another step. She tore his throat out with her teeth. He was powerless to stop her.

When it was done, she stood. Already, she could feel the life coursing through her.

Now, all she needed was to find Kaname again.


	4. Two Lovers Meet - (fixed) - Part 4

**Part 4 - Two Lovers Meet**

Yuki flew. She was like a shadowy spirit, unfettered from earthly bonds, passing silently over sunlit pastures and city-scapes, mountain ranges and vast expanses of green ocean. Despite the speed with which she traveled, she felt no wind resistance at all. She was untouchable. She hadn't enjoyed anything in so long, she was almost afraid her heart would burst with the pleasure.

She could smell him as she got closer. He was in the town below, in the large stone building near the center. He was waiting there for her.

She alighted gently on the rooftop, and found a hatch that let her down inside the building.

People gaped at her as she passed them in the halls.

She was naked, with only the flowing waves of black hair draped over her to preserve her modesty. Her feet were bare, the skin blackened below the ankles from going so long without shoes. Her skin was smeared with filth and fresh blood.

There were certainly a lot of people standing around in this place. They filled the hallways. They blocked the doors. They crouched and chattered in every nook and cranny. It was as if they had gathered here to witness her passage, or to guard against some coming disaster.

Wherever she went, they gasped and went silent. They parted to let her pass. No one spoke to her. No one tried to stop her. She ignored them.

She followed Kaname's scent down into the bowels of the building.

When she came around the corner, Sairen saw her and gasped.

"Yuki!" she shouted. "Yuki?!"

"Unlock the door and let me in," she said.

"I'm not sure if that's a good idea," said Sairen. "You probably won't recognize him, nor he you at this time."

"I don't care what he looks like," she said. "Open it."

"My lady," said Sairen, as put the key into the magically reinforced lock with an unsteady hand. "Are you sure?"

"He has been waiting all this time for my return, and you want to make him wait longer?"

"No. Never!" she said, and turned the key.

Yuki stepped inside the room and looked around. The monster was crouched quietly in one corner. Most of the skin down the left side of his head was gone. Underneath, she saw the skeletal, nightmare face she had once glimpsed reflected in uncle Rido's eye so long ago. It was, she knew, just one of many faces of the man she loved.

"Kaname!" she cried, as an unexpected feeling of joy came pouring from within her.

The creature paced toward her on all fours. Shaggy black hair hung from what was left of his remaining flesh. She wasn't worried. It would all grow back. Kaname was in there. He looked at her, his eyes still glowing crimson, but he was yet unable to speak.

When he was close enough for her to touch, she reached out and gently placed her hand upon his head.

"Kaname. I'm back. I found a way to come back to you. I missed you so much!"

Sairen gaped as Yuki leaned down and kissed the monster's scabbarrous face.

"You must be thirsty, my love," Yuki whispered. "Let me take you home."


End file.
